Why a Zener diode is truly random

Reverse biased Zener diodes with ratings greater than about 6V will randomly conduct current under a process called avalanche breakdown. All knowledge of Zener design can be found in this ehandbook (1.2MB). This is an extremely complex process which we can exploit to make a very good entropy source. The complexity is on such a scale that fundemental principles of the Universe dictate that no one will ever be able to predict the exact current flowing across a Zener diode whilst in avalanche breakdown. The varying current creates the entropy. This is not an idle boast and was famously encapsulated in the following quotation:-

“We have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself but nature exposed to our method of questioning.”

-Werner Heisenberg.

And it’s the last part that’s crucial. Any method of questioning requires us to see electrons if we’re to predict their trajectories and positions. If we see an electron, we interact with it. If we interact with it, we affect it. This is called the Observer effect in quantum mechanics and is governed by the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle like so:-

$$ \Delta x \Delta p \geq \frac{\hbar}{2} $$

where $ x $ = position, $ p $ = momentum and $ \hbar $ is the reduced Planck constant which is unsurprisingly, constant. So if you know one, you can’t possibly know the other. If you know how fast an electron is travelling ($ p $), nature will simply not allow you to know it’s direction ($ x $) with any certainty. And visa versa. Since this is the Internet, we can just plagiarise someone else’s much simpler analogy:-

“This principle also has common classical examples, like how you can never accurately take your temperature using a mercury thermometer. Because the heat from your mouth flows into the thermometer and slightly cools your body, you can never get a truly accurate measurement.”

-Brett Goldman

Further non determinism arises from the diode’s atoms being like flully little cotton balls, rather than the traditional schoolbook notion of a miniature solar system. The electons constituting the atom still kinda orbit the nucleus, but their position is no longer thought of as within exact circular orbits. Their position at any time is currently described by a probability distribution, whose value decreases with distance from the nucleus. So any electron within the Zener diode’s atoms might be literally anywhere (with diminishing probability). It might even be behind you! The following figure illustrates the consequence for a free electron whizzing through an atom’s orbital:-

Potential electron collision within an atom.

We can’t possibly predict the exact path of the loose electron due to the Observer effect. And we can’t possibly predict if it will pass though unaffected or be deflected by another electron within an orbital. And finally, there is no physical way to determine the angle of deflection if it were to collide with another electron. By deduction, the angle is stochastic as well.

This might all seem somewhat abstract with little relevance to the physical world and a TRNG. But the important thing to realise is that due to the above, the electrical noise on a Zener diode in Avalanche breakdown is fundamentally unpredictable by science. It’s not a question of measurement accuracy, or the sensitivity of the measuring instruments. It is truly random by nature and even God himself cannot predict it, much less three or four letter named agencies (NSA /BBC /GCHQ). This implication is worth dwelling upon. So a very simple home made entropy source can be just as fundementally random as the very best commercial or laboratory quantum RNGs. Yes, they will be slightly faster (a laboratory 640Gbit/s TRNG is here), but still only as random as yours.

On an entropic level, this laser optics based TRNG:-

Quintessence 1Gbit/s commercial TRNG costing £oodles.

is exactly as random as:-

A glass encapsulated Zener diode costing 10p.

We focus on this equivalence as the marketing departments of the various TRNG providers would have you believe that unless a laser is involved in some quantum fashion, an entropy source built around a simple diode cannot be as random as theirs. That’s called FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt). Rubbish. The NIST organisation stretches this only by quantum laser mantra to ridiculous lengths promoting their randomness beacon. Infallible measurements on laser beams outside of light cones sound very convincing, but appreciate the innner quantum effects within a humble diode and their inherent unequivocal randomness. The TRNG with a personality ERNIE has been generating true random numbers via diode noise on behalf of the British government since 1956, and has safely awarded £18B in prize money. Perfectly randomly.